Op on to reunite 2-month-old leopard cub with mother in Barwani

Barwani: A village in Rajpur forest range of Madhya Pradesh’s Barwani district has become a site for most crucial wildlife operations - reuniting a leopard cub with its mother - under the cover of darkness.

As the sun sets, forest officials place a cage with a two-month-old leopard cub found weak and separated from its family in a field at Golata village from where it was rescued, then retreat into darkness to wait for a mother that may or may not return. The cage door will open remotely by pulling a rope, once the signs of the mother approaching are detected. Three night-vision cameras are installed to keep an eye on the cub.

Forest officials stationed at a short distance track the area using thermal-vision equipment.

The female cub was spotted in the field owned by Shankar Kevat on Monday afternoon. Villagers alerted the forest department after recording a video of the cub.

A team reached the spot and found the cub in a severely weak condition and unable to move properly. Officials monitored the area and waited for the mother leopard to return, but as the cub’s condition deteriorated, the division-level wildlife rescue team shifted it to the forest department’s Eco Centre campus for treatment.

Divisional forest officer Ashish Bansod said veterinarians found the cub suffered from dehydration and lack of food and water. The cub was given intravenous fluids and supportive treatment, after which its condition stabilised.

“Reuniting the cub with its mother is the best option from a wildlife conservation perspective,“ Bansod said. He said the cub was one of three offspring of a female leopard sighted in the area over the past month.

“There is a strong possibility that the cub either got separated from its mother or was left behind because it had become too weak,“ he said.

Bansod said female leopards often leave their cubs in secure locations while searching for food and later return to take them back. Based on this behaviour, officials placed the cub near the rescue site during the night after treatment, but the mother did not return.

The cub is undergoing further treatment during the day and will again be placed near the same location at night, with officials saying the process will be repeated for four to five days in the hope of a reunion.

“If the mother does not return and reunion efforts fail, the cub will be shifted to a zoological facility for long-term care,“ Bansod said.

Local farmers said a female leopard had been moving around with three cubs in the area for nearly a month. During irrigation work on Monday, villagers noticed the leopard and her cubs near a patch of bushes, and as people gathered, the mother retreated into the vegetation with two cubs while one cub remained near a mango tree and eventually separated from its family.